Under normal circumstances, a steering gear requires no maintenance. Changing the grease is therefore not part of the Volkswagen maintenance program. However, if the steering box is serviced, the grease must of course be replaced. If you have purchased a new steering gear, it is not always obvious that it was filled with grease at the factory.
This semi-liquid multi-purpose grease is based on well-refined, highly viscous base oils with lithium soap as a thickener. 'Extreme Pressure' and other additives are added to achieve the following properties:
-Strong adhesion to metal
-Excellent water displacement
-Very good stability
-Good anti-corrosion and anti-wear properties.
-Very good pumping capacity
-Excellent "Extreme pressure" properties.
Note : The steering gear manufacturers do not give any guarantee when using a grease with specifications different from those of the EP 00/000 grease mentioned here.
Types of steering boxes:
In the old models of the Volkswagen Beetle and Karmann Ghia, there is reference to the spindle steering, which was later replaced by a roller steering system. On the Beetle 1303 and Vanagon Bus, a rack-and-pinion drive was used. It is important to know what is mounted under your car, here is the full explanation:
Volkswagen used spindle steering on the Volkswagen Beetle until 1965 and on the Karmann Ghia until 1961. The steering gearbox is equipped with a fork (spindle) with a gear that rotates on a shaft (worm) to provide the rotational movement. In the last years of construction, roller steering was used; similarly, only the tooth spindle was replaced by a carrier roller (worm gear). From 1974, the 1303 Beetle, like the third generation buses (Vanagon T25/T3 ), was equipped with a rack-and-pinion steering system. It's a rectangular rod that has teeth on one side like a gearwheel. With the pinion, a small gear that intervenes in the gearing, the rod can be moved longitudinally. Volkswagen did not implement this change simultaneously for all models, so the list below shows when and for which VW model the system was used.
Spindle steering (sector type):
Beetle export model until 1961 (chassis no. 3 933 184 )
Beetle convertible until 1961 (chassis no. 3 933 184 )
Beetles for the domestic market (standard version) until 7/1965
Karmann Ghia until 1961 (chassis no. 3 933 184 )
Roller steering:
Beetle export model from 1961 (chassis no. 3 933 185 ) and later
Beetle cabriolet from 1961 (chassis no. 3 933 185 ) until 7/1974
Beetle 1200, 1300, 1500 from 8/1965 and later
Beetle 1302 and 1303 up to 7/1974
Karmann Ghia from 1961 (chassis no. 3 933 185 ) and later
VW Bus up to 7/1979
Type 3 all models and years of construction
VW Thing all models and years of construction
Rack-and-pinion drive:
Beetle 1303 from 8/1974 and later
VW Vanagon all years
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